Hardik Pandya’s captaincy stint for Mumbai Indians (MI) hasn’t got off to the best of starts as the franchise on Monday (April 1) suffered its third successive defeat in the 2024 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Playing against Rajasthan Royals (SRH), MI were invited to bat first at the Wankhede Stadium. However, the five-time champions lost the plot in the first innings itself after RR restricted them to a below-par 125/9 in 20 overs.
It was a listless batting display as no one managed to hit a half-century. Pandya was the top scorer with 34 off 21 balls.
In reply, the visitors overhauled the paltry target with 6 wickets and 27 deliveries to spare. While RR lost their top three comprising of Yashasvi Jaiswal (10), Jos Buttler (13) and Sanju Samson (12) cheaply, in-form Riyan Parag scored a measured half-century (54* off 39) to seal the deal.
After the game, MI skipper Hardik Pandya acknowledged the fact that it was a tough night for them and not an ideal start for the team in such a big tournament.
"Yes, a tough night, we didn't start the way we wanted to start. I wanted to counter, we were in a decent position to get us around 150-160, but my wicket allowed them to get back more into the game, I needed to do a lot more. It's okay, we didn't expect such a surface, but you can't always have it as a batter, it's nice at times for the bowlers to have a say," Hardik said at the post-match presentation.
"It's all about doing the right things, (correct) results happen at times, at some other times it doesn't. As a group, we believe we can do a lot better, but we need to be a bit more disciplined and show a lot more courage," he added.
On the other hand, Rajasthan Royals skipper Sanju Samson felt it was a tricky wicket to start off and winning the toss favoured them immensely.
Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal (3/11) and Trent Boult (3/22) starred with the ball for RR, claiming three wickets each in their stipulated four overs.
"I think the toss was the game changer. The wicket was too sticky to start off, and the experience of Boult and Burger helped us. He's been playing for 10-15 years, and that is what we expected with the new ball. Didn't expect 4-5 wickets to fall, but we knew our bowlers would do well," Samson said after the match.
"We know we have big individuals in our team, but where we stand out is everyone recognises their role, does it and moves on. The likes of Ash and Chahal realised we had a good powerplay, and they kept it tight without really looking for wickets. (On Chahal) I think he was really fired up for this IPL, and he's been doing well for the past 2-3 years for us," he further remarked.
